"Put down the weapon, Dain," Jett ordered, adjusting his grip on his own rifle as he stared down the sights at the woman. He could see her hand shaking ever so slightly as she kept her pistol trained on him, scowling at his request. She was nervous, good. That could work to his advantage if he played his cards right.
"You can't win this one… Besides, we're here to help you," Kind of, Jett added to himself but chose not to say the words aloud.
"You just destroyed my whole base," Alaida snarled, adjusting her grip on the pistol so she was now holding it with two hands. "Why in the galaxy would I trust a single word out of your mouth?"
::Tell her that wasn't us, that it was Shaen Mog. We may not know it for sure, but I'm willing to bet on it,:: Iam's tense voice came over the comm and Jett felt himself relax. They were here, looking out for him. He wasn't in this by himself.
"We didn't bomb your base, Dain. We tried to stop it. Your attacker is a man called Shaen Mog… Heard of him?" He took a cautious step forward, wary of the debris scattered around them. The last thing he needed now was to fall.
Alaida's eyes narrowed, suspicion clear on her face. "…I think you know I have."
"Then you'll believe me when I say he came after you to keep us from tracking him down. I'm guessing you know he's capable of it."
The pistol wobbled as Alaida hesitated, listening to what he had to say. He took a step and she bit her lip, glancing around as if nervous that he might have backup.
"Why bother coming to stop it?" she asked finally, the pistol steadying once more as she turned her attention back to him. "It's not like you lot would lose much sleep over my death."
::Tell her she owes me for damages to my ship,:: it was Kadira's voice this time, her calm tone reassuring.
"Kadira says you owe her credits for the damage you did to her ship," Jett said, stopping his movements towards her when he found a small spot clear of debris. He wanted to be on firm footing in case this went downhill. "She's not the kind to let that go."
Kadira leaned back in the pilot's chair, her eyes closed as she listened to the conversation coming over the comm. She could feel the tension in her shoulders as Jett continued to try to convince Alaida they were on her side.
"What happens if she shoots?" Ran murmured, his question for her ears alone. "Can Jett's armor take it?"
"It's not beskar," Kadira replied tensely. "It all depends on how high power that pistol is, and I'm willing to bet Alaida doesn't carry a simple holdout blaster. She shoots and we've got bad news."
::Buir, I'm in line of sight with Alaida. I have the solution,:: Laniff's voice crackled over the comm and Kadira relaxed ever so slightly at the words.
::Copy that, Laniff. I'm moving in sight now. Use your judgment, and I'll call it if I see something,:: Iam replied. ::Jett we have you covered, son. Keep doing what you're doing.::
"Solution?" Ran asked as Kadira flipped the switch attached to their comm, allowing them to hear but making it so the others wouldn't pick up on whatever chatter went on inside the Vanguard.
"Military jargon," Kadira replied. "It means he's in line to take a kill shot if he needs to."
"Kill shot? We came all the way out here to get Dain, not to shoot her," Ran protested.
"She's got a gun on Jett, Ran!" Kadira replied, looking at him in disbelief. "She shoots him and he's dead."
"Oh please. Jett knew the risks coming onto this project. We can't just-"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Ran," Kadira snapped, cutting him off. "If it comes down to Dain's life or Jett's, I'm choosing Jett's. I am not letting Alaida gun down one of my team. No intel she might have is valuable enough for me to start sacrificing people, got that?"
Ran was silent and Kadira leaned forward in her seat, her gray eyes fixed on his. "You have a problem with that, Ran, and I can drop you off at the nearest spaceport," her voice was dangerously calm. "You can find another pilot and go gallivanting off on your smuggling missions with them. You can drop off the shabla map for all I care. But I will do everything I need to in order to keep my team alive. Do you understand me?"
"…When did it become your team, Kadira?" Ran asked finally, his voice holding a sharp edge as he met her gaze, for once on even ground in a staring match now that she was without her armor. "Last I checked, I was the one calling the shots."
"The minute you decided your mission, whatever the haran it is, was more important than the people here. That's when it became my team. You stopped being the leader, and simply became the one bankrolling this operation… If you don't like the way I'm running this, then you can leave and take your credits with you. But I do not sacrifice my team like they're just pawns in a game of dejarik."
Ran held her gaze a few moments more, scowling, before rising and stalking out of the room. Kadira watched him go, letting out an explosive breath once she was alone.
::...You alright, Kad'ika?:: the voice was Iam's, and Kadira was suddenly grateful for the link that had allowed her buir to listen in on the conversation. Neither Laniff nor Jett were able to do so, which meant she hadn't distracted them from the life-or-death situation they were facing.
"Fine," she replied with a sigh. "Mad as haran, but fine. Get Jett out of there, buir. Preferably soon enough that you get back before I strangle Ran. Or shoot him."
::Buir, looks like Jett has managed to talk Dain down,:: Laniff's voice came over the comm just as Iam came in sight of the clone, confirming the sight before him.
Alaida was handing her pistol over to Jett, looking wary, but apparently willing to work with them for the time being. Jett took the weapon from her before motioning for her to walk in front of him, swinging his rifle over his shoulder in order to grab his pistol. He kept the blaster pointed at Alaida's back as they walked, clearly not trusting her to keep her word. Iam nodded in approval, knowing the clone would pick up the motion even from afar.
"So I see," Iam responded to Laniff, stopping and waiting, his rifle lowered from his shoulder but still in a position that he could fire quickly if need be. He wasn't willing to trust Dain any more than they absolutely had to. "Jett, how are things looking?"
::She's angry, but willing to work with us for now. She seems to have realized that we're her best bet for finding Mog.::
"That's all I ask for. Good job, Jet'ika. You handled that well. We'll keep a close eye on her once we have her on board," Iam turned back to face the direction of the Vanguard, one hand against the side of his helmet as he activated his comm. "Kad'ika? We have Dain, we'll bring her aboard. Keep Ran in a place she can't see him, I'd rather we not have that problem on our hands on top of everything else."
::He's off pouting anyways,:: Kadira responded, her cheerful tone sounding only slightly forced. ::I'll make sure he stays out of sight for the time being though. Besides, I've wanted to lock him upstairs for a while now anyway, just for the sake of peace and quiet. No better time than the present, as they say. ::
Iam heard a click as Kadira shut off her comm, followed by Laniff's voice over his private comm channel.
::Buir? Something going on between Kad'ika and Mr. 'I'm so cold I make Hoth look warm' in there?:: Laniff asked.
"Ran was pushing to avoid a kill shot," Iam replied shortly. "Even if it cost us Jett."
::Ah. Well in that case, let's get back to the ship so I can explain to Ran why we don't leave team members to be shot by a mad woman,:: Laniff's voice was far too cheerful, and Iam had to chuckle.
"Play nice. We do still need Ran as well," he reminded the other man as Jett and Alaida fell in step beside Iam, neither of them aware of the private conversation.
::I promise not to hurt his feelings, buir,:: Laniff responded dryly.
Kadira propped her booted feet up on the table, eyeing Alaida warily. Kadira shifted ever so slightly, wishing she was wearing beskar'gam instead of the leather jacket she had adopted. She liked the anonymity the armor gave her, especially as Alaida's eyes fixed on Kadira's face with an intensity that said she was memorizing the smuggler's features. True, they had been face-to-face before, but Alaida hadn't seen Kadira as nearly such a threat back then. Now she apparently knew better.
"Where are we going?" Alaida broke the silence suddenly, and Kadira answered with an arched eyebrow.
"You tell me. Mog was your pet kath hound, not mine."
"He attacked my base," Alaida snapped in response. "I'd think even your crew would guess that means he's not working for me anymore."
Kadira sighed and slid her boots off the table to lean forward, looking the woman in the eyes and waiting patiently until Alaida fell silent. When Kadira spoke, her words were calm.
"First off, my crew is the only reason you're alive, so I suggest you be careful who you insult. It would be easy for us to hand you over to an underworld contact. You wouldn't believe how many people are out there who would love to get their hands on an Imperial Agent-"
"You wouldn't," Alaida interrupted, crossing her arms over her chest. Her slight smile held just enough cockiness to make Kadira willing to throw caution to the wind. "You need me, Sal."
Kadira laughed, watching as Alaida's expression flickered between utter confidence and sudden doubt. Laughter was clearly not the reaction the other woman had expected.
"No, Dain," Kadira said, smiling and shaking her head. The steely expression in her gray eyes belied the humor in her voice as she fixed her gaze on the other woman. "I don't 'need' you. You are simply a faster solution to a problem I want to solve, not the only one."
She waited a moment to see if Alaida would protest. When she stayed silent, Kadira continued as if she hadn't been interrupted, "Second, Mog obviously thinks you know something, else he wouldn't have tried to kill you before we reached you. There's obviously something specific he thinks you might be able to tell us…
Third, I need to give you a warning. No matter how valuable you think you are, no matter what you might or might not give me to point this team towards Shaen Mog, my crew comes first. Mog will show up again, even if we lose him this time. So don't bank on me choosing your intel over any one of my crew's lives or safety. It is a bet you will lose. The moment it comes down to you or my crew, I will shove you in an escape pod and send you to whatever Force-forsaken planet happens to be the closest. And if I'm lucky, it will be a desolate and uninhabited wasteland where you will be stranded for the rest of your life. You would never touch a single innocent again... If I'm not so lucky, then I will make sure you're so busy dodging bounty hunters, assassins, and every crime lord you have ever crossed that you become exactly like the refugees you hunt down for a living. Is that perfectly clear, or do you have any questions?"
Kadira's voice had remained at the same pitch and tone throughout the entire speech and she saw Alaida blink, suddenly looking more nervous than if Kadira had shouted. Kadira watched patiently, knowing without a doubt that she had found Alaida's greatest fear - Exposure. A few simple words in the right ears, and even the Empire wouldn't be able to protect their agent from those who would hunt her down. Alaida would become a fugitive, and she would eventually run out of places to run. Kadira saw Alaida lick her lips nervously before seeming to wrestle her mask of composure over her features once more.
"You've gotten more ruthless, Sal," Alaida said finally, and Kadira was impressed at the way her voice trembled only slightly.
Kadira offered a sharp smile to match Alaida's own, her gray eyes dancing slightly with humor. "No, I'm a Mando. We protect our own, no matter what... Perhaps you should pay more attention, Dain. You may have figured that out sooner if you weren't too busy chasing me across the galaxy and back without stopping to think what it might push me to do."
Alaida studied Kadira's face carefully and Kadira forced herself to meet the other woman's gaze calmly. Finally, Alaida nodded.
"Fine. I'll tell you everything I know about Mog."
Jett looked up as Kadira walked into the cockpit, the door sliding shut behind her. She let out an explosive sigh and plopped down in the pilot's chair, closing her eyes and running one hand through her hair tiredly. She made a face when her fingers found a tangle and he smiled, looking back to the ship's readouts.
They were in hyperspace, but he was using the time to familiarize himself with the Vanguard as much as possible. Mostly for safety's sake, he assured himself. But there was a tiny voice in the back of his mind that insisted it was for another reason, a more selfish one than the wellbeing of the crew.
This was Kadira's ship. She had spent countless hours designing, building, and flying it. Every detail was there because she had put it there. Everything was coded to her preferences and hers alone. From the elegant design of the ship to the deadly armaments tucked away aboard the Vanguard, every piece told him something about her, about her life and the way she thought and reacted. It showed him what made her feel safe and where she felt the most vulnerable. It was as if the ship had been built for the sole purpose of showing the galaxy who this woman was, if only they were paying close enough attention to-
"That seemed to go well," Jett said abruptly, shoving the thoughts of out his mind. He was simply trying to make sure he knew how to fly the hunk of metal in case of an emergency. That was it. "What was your plan if she called your bluff?"
Kadira cracked one eye open to look at him, lifting her eyebrow in an all-too-familiar expression as she let her hand drop back to her side. Jett noticed the tangle had been worked out of her hair.
"What makes you think I was bluffing?"
He hesitated at the answer.
"You're the one who avoids killing," Jett pointed out finally.
Kadira sighed and pushed herself up so she wasn't slouching in her chair. She kicked her boots off and tucked her feet up underneath her, looking out at the swirl of hyperspace as if searching for her answer.
"I kill when I have to," she said finally, all humor gone from her voice. "I try to give someone a second chance, to… give them the opportunity to change their mind in the future, is the easiest way to put it… But sometimes you have to pull the trigger. And if Alaida puts this crew in danger, I will do that without hesitating. I won't enjoy it, but I will do it. It wasn't a bluff. I was completely serious."
"You'd expose her to everyone who wants her dead?" Jett asked, no malice in his voice, only curiosity.
"Yes. I'm not concocting anything that makes them want her dead – she did that with her own actions. And believe me when I say they're already after her. But I'm not going to sacrifice any member of my crew for the woman who has been hunting us and trying to kill us. Especially when she will just keep doing what she's doing…" she looked up at Jett, and he saw a level of seriousness in her gaze that he had never seen before. "My problem isn't with killing, Jett. It's the fact that it's so easy to go from killing in order to protect those I care about, to playing judge, jury, and executioner. I don't ever want to decide someone deserves to die, especially if I have the opportunity to show mercy. But that doesn't mean I will allow myself or the people I care about to be killed."
"…Sounds very complicated," Jett said finally, his mind spinning from the explanation. She smiled slightly in response, but the expression was grim.
"The minute it becomes easy is when I know I'm probably not on the right path anymore. Doing the wrong thing is easy. It's the right thing that requires a struggle and a fight. Just look at the Empire. So many people sit back and watch the atrocities that are committed because it's easy to stay quiet. It takes courage to stand up and do the right thing."
"Like you stood up?"
But Kadira was shaking her head, her expression grim. "Like I should have. Much, much sooner."
Jett opened his mouth to respond, but was cut short when the comm crackled to life.
::Kadira?:: the voice was Ran's, and there was a seriousness in it that made Jett fall silent. ::Jonika and I started looking using all the intel we have, plus what Dain gave us… You're going to want to see this yourself... Bring Iam.::
Laniff leaned his shoulder against the doorframe, studying the map Kadira had brought up in the common room of the Vanguard. The map was massive, spreading across the entire room and showing the known galaxy from edge to edge. A few routes were marked between planets, but Laniff quickly established they were nothing more than common routes known to most Spacers. Kadira was being careful not to give Alaida any more information than the woman already had. Laniff grinned inside his helmet when he saw Jett duck underneath Hutta and Nar Shadaa as if the floating planets were more than just a holoprojection.
"Shut up, Laniff," Jett warned, pointing one finger at the red-gold armored Mandalorian accusingly.
"I didn't say anything," Laniff replied innocently.
"Your body language was enough," Jett retorted, earning a chuckle from Laniff as he inclined his head in acknowledgement of the point. Clones had a way of reading a person's intent from body language alone. Jett was even more skilled than most, it seemed.
"Are they always like this?" Alaida asked, her tone bored.
Jett didn't give anyone time to respond. He turned and crossed over to her in three steps, lifted the woman out of the chair, and hauled her out of the room. Laniff craned his neck to see Jett dump Alaida unceremoniously into the hallway before walking back into the room and palming the door shut behind him. Laniff nodded and clapped approvingly, ignoring the muffled shouts from the hallway.
"You've no idea how long I've wanted to do that," Jett said with a sigh.
"You've learned well, young one," Laniff said with mock gravity, earning a snort from Jett.
"I'm older than you, di'kut."
Kadira ignored the entire event, instead pulling up a second and third image that she then moved to hover in the center of the room. She stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest, rocking her weight back on her heels as she studied them.
One was a surprisingly sharp image of Shaen Mog that Ran had managed to pull from Kadira's HUD system after Coruscant. Laniff could pick out at least two pistols, a sheathed vibroblade, and a wrist-mounted rocket launcher with just a glance at the image. He had no doubt Mog had plenty of other weapons that weren't nearly as obvious.
Laniff turned his attention to the second image, a man he didn't recognize. He looked like a soldier, face weathered with a scar across his chin. He seemed to be in his forties, with sharp blue eyes and buzz cut hair that was impossible to tell the color of. Laniff could tell even from the headshot that the man was in good shape, his neck muscles sharp and toned even beneath his clothing.
"…Not to sound ridiculous, but who is that?" Laniff asked finally, pointing to the image with his head tilted to the side curiously. Something about the man seemed vaguely familiar, but his HUD was pulling up no matches.
Kadira blew out a breath and glanced to Iam, who hesitated a moment before nodding.
"That," Kadira said, moving forward and leaning against the table, "is our missing puzzle piece... His name is Draco Moore. He's a Mando, but he won't show up in your systems, Laniff. All records of him were wiped a few years ago. He's an old-timer, his family was wiped out by Death Watch back in the beginnings of the Clone Wars and he never really made any other connections. Even after Death Watch disappeared, he was convinced they still existed and was determined to hunt them down..." she paused to let the information sink in before continuing. "Most of us Mandos never really saw his face. He was a loner, lived out in the mountains, didn't really venture into Keldabe very often, so he wasn't easily recognizable even to his fellow vod... See where this is going?"
"He decided to infiltrate Death Watch," Jett offered, and Kadira nodded.
"It was the perfect scenario - no one would wonder what happened to Draco, and no one would recognize him in Death Watch. It took some time to convince Mand'alor Shysa, but he eventually agreed to it. In order to protect Draco, what little of his identity that was recorded was erased from every database with the help of some very accomplished slicers."
The glance Kadira sent Laniff's way confirmed his suspicion that the slicers she was talking about all had the last name of Skirata. He nodded, confirming that he knew what she was driving at - they were not to be mentioned in front of Dain. The hunt for the escaped clones and their adopted Mandalorian father Kal SKirata was far from being over with and forgotten. The last thing they needed was to bring the Imps down on Skirata's clan.
"After that, Moore was smuggled off of Mandalore to make a new life and be recruited into Death Watch. He replaced another infiltrator who had been killed years earlier. The man who was killed was convinced he had made a breakthrough, but was murdered before he could pass along whatever intel he had found… Moore decided to take up where that man left off."
"If this is all so secret, how do you know about it?" Jett asked, waving one gloved hand at the image to illustrate his point. "And how does it work in to the whole situation with Mog?"
Again, Kadira glanced at Iam. The older man gave another nod of permission.
"I know about it because te Mand'alor asked me to smuggle him out. I was fairly new to Mandalore, so I didn't have any ties to Moore that might tip anyone off if they came to look later… It ties into Mog because Mog has been looking into him for some time, and an alert just went out on Moore. It was a private bounty, but Jonika managed to snag it and get the intel for me when I had her start looking for anything related to Moore."
Kadira reached to her wrist to punch in a code, before seeming to realize she wasn't wearing her armor. She moved to press a button on the base of the holoprojector, bringing up string of text that was the bounty listing for Moore.
"Oh shab…" Jett murmured, speaking for everyone as they read the description. Everything was there. Moore's name, age, military history, and place of birth, along with any known aliases. Also listed was the reason for the bounty, which was what had earned the curse.
Kadira nodded, crossing her arms over her chest once more. "Death Watch has figured out that Moore infiltrated their ranks, no doubt thanks to Mog. We have evidence he's been on Moore's tail for some time, but wasn't sure who it was until now. Also, it looks like Moore is still unaware of this. He'll be blindsided if we don't get to him before all haran breaks loose…"
"Shaen is going to target Moore himself, he won't let anyone else take the glory," Jett mused slowly. "This is going to be a disaster if we don't stop it. Not only will Moore die, but we'll lose everything he's gathered on Death Watch, and we won't have another chance to get that intel. They'll be too cautious after that."
"Oh and it gets worse," Kadira said grimly. "According to Dain, Shaen Mog's biggest goal was to earn glory and honor in the old way, through conquest and defeating enemies. He started by working his way up through our people, starting with Mandalorians who were less skilled or who were injured or out of practice. He wanted to make sure he understood how we fought, what our strategies are… But then he stumbled across the other infiltrator, the one who was killed. Mog was young at the time, so apparently he simply mentioned it to another Death Watch member rather than taking it in on his own. But everything we have points to the idea that Mog was present when the infiltrator was murdered. And my guess is, he realized that there was more glory in the eyes of his peers for taking out men like this."
"But this is all guesswork," Jett protested, holding up one hand.
"Educated guesswork leading up to something. Bear with me, it helps if I talk it out," Kadira said. "Thanks to Alaida's intel and Jonika's further research, we know Shaen has been working his way towards two goals ever since the infiltrator's death. The first is still the same - to earn glory through conquest and killing. He's just doing it a different way now."
"And the second?"
"…Revenge," Kadira said finally, looking up to Iam. As she continued to speak, her gaze stayed fixed on his. "Revenge against the man who killed his buir…"
Jett let out a slow breath and turned to look at Iam, his gaze searching.
Iam let out a breath, running one hand over his face. "I had no idea he was Death Watch at the time. Just that he was trying to kill me and I had better kill him first. I got lucky, got a shot off before he did... Jonika's discovery was the first time I even knew he had been targeting other Mandalorians, taking them out in ways that no one would suspect to be anything out of the ordinary. It makes sense now, looking back. I'd made a name for myself in the bounty hunting world, but I wasn't famous enough that people would talk. He planned it well. I remember admiring how easily he had walked me into a trap, making me think it was my own idea."
"Shaen's signature as well," Jett murmured, nodding as he made the connections.
"And it's more than just that," Kadira added with a sigh. "There are whispers that Mog is going to try something big, something that will bring him 'untold glory' and all that other osik that tends to accompany Death Watch speeches. But we don't know what exactly he's doing. All we know is that Moore is the first step… If we can stop this here and now, we might be able to prevent something even worse from coming along later."
There was silence in the room for a moment before Laniff spoke for the first time, his voice low.
"Kad'ika… Who was the last infiltrator? The one who died?"
Kadira bit her lip and Jett frowned, wondering at her hesitation.
"Iam?" she said finally, handing the question to him.
Iam sighed and ran one hand through his hair, looking to Laniff apologetically. He didn't say a word, but Laniff let out an explosive breath and looked away, obviously struggling to control his features.
"It was my buir," he said finally, his voice so strained that Jett tensed, expecting the other man to explode. He had never seen Laniff so dangerous looking, as if he was holding onto reality by a thread.
Iam simply nodded as if he sensed words would send Laniff over the edge. Laniff turned on his heel, leaving the room without a word. Kadira started to follow, but Iam shook his head, holding out a hand to stop her.
"Give him some time, ad'ika. He needs to process this first. After that we can keep him from doing anything stupid."
Kadira hesitated a moment, glancing between Iam and the door, her expression conflicted. Finally, she nodded.
"I'll get our coordinates set," she said finally, glancing back to the door once more before sighing and turning towards the cockpit.
"Will Laniff be alright?" Jett asked quietly once the door hissed shut behind Kadira.
Iam looked up, his expression grim.
"He will be," the older man replied finally, his voice firm and unyielding. "Even if I have to drag him away from this with my bare hands and lock him in the bastion until it's all over, he will be."
A/N: So as an apology for the long delay, this chapter is longer than usual... Hopefully it was still worth the wait, and apologies for how long it took me to get this chapter up. I was fighting Writer's Block, then left on vacation for a bit. So as always, thanks for waiting, I greatly appreciate any thoughts, ideas, reviews, etc that you want to leave me!